GodSprings - March 08, 2016

Am I Ready to Get My Feet Wet?

The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. Joshua 3:17 (NIV)

In 1962, Victor and Mildred Goertzel published a revealing study of 413 "famous and exceptionally gifted people" called Cradles of Eminence. They spent years attempting to understand what produced such greatness, what common thread might run through all of these outstanding people's lives. Surprisingly, the most outstanding fact was that virtually all of them, 392, had to overcome very difficult obstacles in order to become who they were.

Every obstacle in life is an opportunity to obey God, every complication is a chance to be conformed into the image of Christ, and every trial gives us the choice of whether we will trust in the timing of God or not.

After wandering in the desert for what seemed like an eternity, Joshua and the children of Israel were on the verge of entering the blessing of God’s Promised Land. God made a promise to Abraham nearly six hundred years earlier concerning the land that was now before his descendants (see Genesis 15). As Joshua and the children of Israel stood on the edge of receiving God’s promise, they had one more barrier to cross: the Jordan River.

During most of the year, the Jordan would not have been much of a barrier to cross at all, but during the spring, when the Israelites were there, the river had swelled to a mile wide. Not only that, a strong current was flowing, making crossing the river nearly impossible.

God had led the Israelites to this place, to this point in time, knowing they would face this obstacle. This encounter is very similar to the way God led the Israelites to the edge of the Red Sea before parting the waters of their deliverance. But this time, God would choose to do things differently. This time God would require His people to get their feet wet before He would make a way across the Jordan.

The people had to take a step of faith and make their way into the water. The priests were told they had to step out into the Jordan before God would remove the obstacle of the remaining water. This process would require one step at a time, one foot in front of the other, until God made the water disappear and allowed the children of Israel to walk across on dry ground.

Is there a Jordan river for you and me? Has God been preparing us to cross over and receive the blessing of His promises, yet there is one more hurdle of obedience before us? Whatever the Jordan River is in our life, we need to view that river as an opportunity to obey God. The obstacle is a chance to be conformed into the image of Christ, and having the obstacle there gives us the choice of whether we will trust in the timing of God or not.